How Do Similarity Cues Shape Children's Social Preference Inferences?

People often prefer similar others. The present study examined children's use of three distinct similarity cues in their inferences about people's social preferences. Participants were 144 children aged 4-8 years (49% female; 74% White). In a between-subject design, children observed a target actor demonstrate similar movements (movement condition), show the same liking/disliking of two toys (liking condition), or speak the same non-native language (language condition) as one of two actors (the similar actor) but not the other dissimilar actor. Children were then asked who the target liked to play with between the two actors. The results showed that children chose the similar actor in the movement condition, regardless of whether they explicitly identified the similar actor, whereas in the liking condition, they did so only when they could correctly identify the similar actor. In the language condition, however, the target and the similar actor speaking the same non-native language had no detectable impact on children's answers. These findings are discussed in terms of how different types of similarity cues may shape children's understanding of others' social preferences, while also highlighting the need to consider differences in task demands and cue identifiability across conditions.